SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

AND

METRO 911 OF KANAWHA COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA

UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

DJ

BACKGROUND

SCOPE
OF THE INVESTIGATION

The
United States Department of Justice (Department) initiated this matter
as a
compliance review of Metro 911 of Kanawha County (Metro 911) located in
Kanawha County,
West Virginia, under title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C.
§§ 12131-12134, and the Department's implementing regulation, 28
C.F.R. Part 35.

The
review was conducted by the Disability Rights Section of the
Department's Civil
Rights Division and focused on Metro 911's compliance with the
following title II requirements:

∙to
conduct a self-evaluation of its services, policies, and practices by
July 26, 1992, and
make modifications necessary to comply with the Department's title II
regulation, 28
C.F.R. § 35.105;

∙to
notify applicants, participants, beneficiaries, and other interested
persons of their rights
and the obligations under title II and the Department's regulation, 28
C.F.R. § 35.106;

∙to
designate a responsible employee to coordinate its efforts to comply
with and carry out
Metro 911's ADA responsibilities, 28 C.F.R. § 35.107(a);

∙to
ensure that communications with applicants, participants, and members
of the public
with disabilities are as effective as communications with others,
including furnishing
auxiliary aids and services when necessary, 28 C.F.R. § 35.160;

1.The
ADA applies to Metro 911 because it is a "public entity" as defined by
title II. 42
U.S.C. § 12131(1).

2.The
Department is authorized under 28 C.F.R. Part 35, Subpart F, to
determine the
compliance of Metro 911 with title II of the ADA and the Department's
title II
implementing regulation, to issue findings, and, where appropriate, to
negotiate and
secure voluntary compliance agreements. Furthermore, the Attorney
General is
authorized, under 42 U.S.C. § 12133, to bring a civil action
enforcing title II of the ADA
should the Department fail to secure voluntary compliance pursuant to
Subpart F.

3.The
Department is authorized under 28 C.F.R. Part 42, Subpart G, to
determine Metro
911'scompliance with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, to issue findings,
and, where appropriate, to negotiate and secure voluntary compliance
agreements. Furthermore, the Attorney General is authorized, under 29
U.S.C. § 794 and 28 C.F.R.
§§ 42.530 and 42.108-110, to suspend or terminate financial
assistance to Metro 911
provided by the Department of Justice should the Department fail to
secure voluntary
compliance pursuant to Subpart G or to bring a civil suit to enforce
the rights of the
United States under applicable federal, state, or local law.

4.The
parties to this Agreement are the United States of America and Metro
911 of
Kanawha County.

5.In
order to avoid the burdens and expenses of an investigation and
possible litigation, the
parties enter into this Agreement.

6.In
consideration of, and consistent with, the terms of this Agreement, the
Attorney
General agrees to refrain from filing a civil suit in this matter
regarding all matters
contained within this Agreement, except as provided in the section
entitled
"Implementation and Enforcement."

ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE METRO 911

7.To
ensure that callers who use TTY's have direct, effective communications
with its 9-1-1 call takers, Metro 911 recently procured new emergency
communications equipment
that provides for integrated handling of 9-1-1 calls placed by people
who use TTY's at
each call taker's computer console. This equipment identifies callers
who are using
TTY's and allows call takers to answer and respond to TTY calls as
easily as they answer
and respond to other callers.

8.In
response to the issues addressed in this Agreement, Metro 911 began
working with the
Department even before this Agreement was signed to improve access for
people with
disabilities who communicate using TTY's.

REMEDIAL ACTION

NOTIFICATION

9.Within
two months of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
adopt the
attached Notice (Attachment A); publish the Notice in a local newspaper of general circulation serving Kanawha County and the City of Charleston; post the Notice on its Internet Home Page; and post copies in conspicuous locations in its public buildings. It will refresh the posted copies, and update the contact information contained on the Notice, as necessary, for the life of this Agreement. Copies will also be provided to any person upon request.

ADA COORDINATOR

10.Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
appoint or
hire one or more ADA Coordinator(s). The ADA Coordinator(s) will
coordinate Metro
911's effort to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under
the ADA, including
any investigation of complaint communicated to it alleging its
noncompliance with title II
or alleging any actions that would be prohibited under title II. Metro
911 will make
available to all interested individuals the name(s), office
address(es), and telephone
number(s) of the ADA Coordinator(s).

GRIEVANCE
PROCEDURE

11.Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
adopt the
attached ADA Grievance Procedure (Attachment
B), distribute it to all agency heads, and
post copies of it in conspicuous locations in each of its public
buildings. It will refresh
the posted copies, and update the contact information contained on it,
as necessary, for
the life of the Agreement. Copies will also be provided to any person
upon request.

GENERAL
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PROVISIONS

12.Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
identify
sources of qualified sign language and oral interpreters, real-time
transcription services,
and vendors that can put documents in Braille, and will implement and
report to the
Department its written procedures, with time frames, for fulfilling
requests from the
public for sign language or oral interpreters, real-time transcription
services, and
documents in alternate formats (Braille, large print, cassette tapes,
etc.).

9-1-1

13.Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
develop
procedures for answering 9-1-1 calls that include training all call
takers to use a TTY to
take 9-1-1 calls, to recognize a "silent" open line as a potential TTY
call and respond by
TTY, and to ensure that TTY calls are answered as quickly as other
calls received.

14.Metro
911 will monitor its incoming 9-1-1 TTY calls to ensure they are
answered as
quickly and accurately as other calls received.

15.Metro
911will incorporate
correct TTY call-taking procedures into 9-1-1 call takers'
performance evaluations and will amend its personnel policies to
include written
disciplinary procedures for call takers who fail to perform TTY
call-taking consistent
with the training and procedures. Metro 911 will implement and report
to the
Department its evaluation and procedures within three months of the
effective date of this
Agreement.

EMPLOYMENT

16.Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
amend its
employment policies, as necessary, to comply with the regulations of
the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission implementing title I of the Americans
with
Disabilities Act of 1990, codified at 29 C.F.R. Part 1630. At minimum,
those policies
will provide that Metro 911:

∙will
not discriminate on the basis of disability in its hiring or employment
practices.

∙will
not ask a job applicant about the existence, nature, or severity of a
disability. Applicants may be asked about their ability to perform
specific job functions. Medical examinations or inquiries may be made,
but only after a conditional offer of
employment is made and only if required of all applicants for the
position.

∙will
make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental
limitations
of a qualified applicant or employee with a disability upon request
unless the
accommodation would cause an undue hardship on the operation of Metro
911's
business. If an applicant or an employee requests a reasonable
accommodation and
the individual's
disability and need for the accommodation are not readily apparent or
otherwise known, Metro 911 may ask the individual for
information necessary to
determine if the individual has a disability-related need for the
accommodation.

∙will
make an individualized assessment of whether a qualified individual
with a
disability meets selection criteria for employment decisions. To the
extent Metro
911's selection criteria have the effect of disqualifying an individual
because of
disability, those criteria will be job-related and consistent with
business necessity.

WEB-BASED
SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

17.Within
1 month of the effective date of this Agreement, and on subsequent
anniversaries
of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911will
distribute to all persons –
employees and contractors – who design, develop, maintain, or otherwise
have
responsibility for content and format of its website(s) or third party
websites used by
Metro 911 (Internet Personnel) the technical assistance document,
"Accessibility of State
and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities," which is Attachment H to
this Agreement (it is also available at www.ada.gov/websites2.htm).

18.Within
three months of the effective date of this Agreement, and throughout
the life of
the Agreement, Metro 911 will do the following:

A.Establish,
implement, and post online a policy that its web pages will be
accessible
and create a process for implementation;

B.Ensure
that all new and modified web pages and content are accessible;

C.Develop
and implement a plan for making existing web content more accessible;

D.Provide
a way for online visitors to request accessible information or services
by
posting a telephone number or e-mail address on its home page; and

E.Periodically
(at least annually) enlist people with disabilities to test its pages
for ease
of use.

MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS

19.Except
as otherwise specified in this Agreement, at yearly anniversaries of
the effective
date of this Agreement until it expires, Metro 911 will submit written
reports to the
Department summarizing the actions Metro 911 has taken pursuant to this
Agreement. Reports will include work orders, notices published in the
newspaper, copies of adopted
policies, and proof of efforts to secure funding/assistance for
structural renovations or
equipment.

20.Throughout
the life of this Agreement, consistent with 28 C.F.R. § 35.133(a),
Metro 911
will maintain the accessibility of its programs, activities, services,
facilities, and
equipment, and will take whatever actions are necessary (such as
routine testing of
accessibility equipment and routine accessibility audits of its
programs and facilities) to
do so. This provision does not prohibit isolated or temporary
interruptions in service or
access due to maintenance or repairs. 28 C.F.R. § 35.133(b).

21.Within
six months of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
develop or
procure a two-hour training program on the requirements of the ADA and
appropriate
ways of serving persons with disabilities. Metro 911 will use the ADA
technical
assistance materials developed by the Department and will consult with
interested
persons, including individuals with disabilities, in developing or
procuring the ADA
training program.

22.Within
one year of the effective date of this Agreement, Metro 911 will
deliver its
training program to all Metro 911employees
who have direct contact with members of
the public. At the end of that period, Metro 911will submit a copy of its training
curriculum and materials to the Department, along with a list of
employees trained and
the name, title, and address of the trainer.

IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT

23.If
at any time Metro 911 desires to modify any portion of this Agreement
because of
changed conditions making performance impossible or impractical or for
any other
reason, it will promptly notify the Department in writing, setting
forth the facts and
circumstances thought to justify modification and the substance of the
proposed
modification. Until there is written Agreement by the Department to the
proposed
modification, the proposed modification will not take effect. These
actions must receive
the prior written approval of the Department, which approval will not
be unreasonably
withheld or delayed.

24.The
Department may review compliance with this Agreement at any time. If
the
Department believes that Metro 911 has failed to comply in a timely
manner with any
requirement of this Agreement without obtaining sufficient advance
written agreement
with the Department for a modification of the relevant terms, the
Department will so
notify Metro 911 in writing and it will attempt to resolve the issue or
issues in good faith. If the Department is unable to reach a
satisfactory resolution of the issue or issues raised
within 30 days of the date it provides notice to Metro 911, it may
institute a civil action
in federal district court to enforce the terms of this Agreement, or it
may initiate
appropriate steps to enforce title II.

25.For
purposes of the immediately preceding paragraph, it is a violation of
this Agreement
for Metro 911 to fail to comply in a timely manner with any of its
requirements without
obtaining sufficient advance written agreement with the Department for
an extension of
the relevant time frame imposed by the Agreement.

26.Failure
by the Department to enforce this entire Agreement or any provision
thereof with
regard to any deadline or any other provision herein will not be
construed as a waiver of
the Department's right to enforce other deadlines and provisions of
this Agreement.

27.This
Agreement is a public document. A copy of this document or any
information
contained in it will be made available to any person by Metro 911 or
the Department on
request.

28.This
Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties on the
matters raised
herein, and no other statement, promise, or agreement, either written
or oral, made by
either party or agents of either party, that is not contained in this
written Agreement
(including its Attachments, which are hereby incorporated by
reference), will be
enforceable. This Agreement does not purport to remedy any other
potential violations
of the ADA or any other federal law. This Agreement does not affect
Metro 911's
continuing responsibility to comply with all aspects of the ADA.

29.This
Agreement will remain in effect for three years.

30.The
person signing for Metro 911 represents that he or she is authorized to
bind Metro
911 to this Agreement.

31.The
effective date of this Agreement is the date of the last signature
below.